How many techniques did you start with?

[Bankbeater]

I started out with a bobber and either night crawlers or red wigglers. Later on I started fishing with crankbaits. Probably Heddon or Cordell baits. 

[haggard]

Just one. 4 inch worm, TX rigged with 1/4 oz bullet.

 

[Sphynx]

One, the Texas rig, still one of my favorite ones too

[Sam]

One.  Texas rigged finesse worm with a lead bullet weight on a spinning rig.

 

 

[deadadrift89]

On 8/17/2019 at 8:19 PM, Sphynx said:

One, the Texas rig, still one of my favorite ones too

Texas Rig was and is the most important and fun way for me to catch them. 

[GReb]

Started with crickets and minnows. First artificial lure was H&H spinnerbaits. 

[dumfish]

Great nostalgic question, a Strike King 3/8 oz. white, short arm spinner bait with a Crome Colorado blade. A friend took me to the  Patuxent River in Maryland and introduced me to slow rolling a spinner bait in fallen timber. I still have the Berkley 5 1/2 ft. Pistol grip Lightning rod, but lost the ambassador 4600 reel. I was hooked for ever after that trip. Still use the spinner bait regularly in different configurations, and still my favorite bait. 

[Walkerhuntfish]

I was H&H beginner also. In the mid to late 90’s after the Florida strains stocked in the Atchafalaya basin after hurricane Andrew exploded that was the ticket along with some Toledo Tackle tequila sunrise curl tail worms on Texas rig. A kid could learn a lot in 100 bass and 50 goggle eyes. Especially how to feel a Texas rig. But I still don’t see how we hooked a single fish with a 5’6” medium pistol grip rod. 

[Sphynx]

20 hours ago, stratoliner92 said:

Texas Rig was and is the most important and fun way for me to catch them. 

It is among the more versatile presentations for the amount of money involved, soft plastics are fairly affordable, nearly any rod/reel can handle it, and it is effective enough to keep newer anglers interested, I certainly don't think the one trick pony wins many tournaments but it's a great place to start for broke college/high school kids, or people who haven't got much disposable income. 

[j bab]

My first bass came on a wacky rigged Zoom Centipede in Watermelon Red out of Toledo Bend.

I'm pretty sure it was an offset worm hook too, not one of the modern "wacky hooks."

Call me crazy but I still prefer to wacky rig stick baits with EWG hooks  

[LadiMopar]

On 8/17/2019 at 12:19 AM, Wizzlebiz said:

How many techniques did you learn when you 1st began bass fishing? I mean really get into the nitty gritty of it all and feel quite proficient before moving on to new techniques. 

 

What techniques were the ones you learned?

Spinnerbait, spinnerbait and oh yah, spinnerbait! Threw them everywhere and anywhere just to see what they would produce..slow rolling, steady retrieve, burning them, crank/pause etc., and then started swapping out different blades: willow, Colorado, Indiana, gold/silver; combinations of colors, hammered, smooth..yup! It was all about the spinnerbait...then graduated to buzzbait, crankbait, and reluctantly gave in to plastics.

 

I still love spinnerbait, but find that I don't use them very often now...and many of the ones I own are "antiques" and I'd sure hate to lose any of them. 

[slonezp]

2

Spinnerbait 

Worm

[Bluebasser86]

A red 1/8oz Roostertail and 2" crappie tube in Firecracker color on a 1/16oz ball head with a safety pin spinner were what I started out really trying to catch bass with.

 

As I progressed, with each new technique I learned, I became focused on that bait/technique until I felt I'd effectively learned it before moving onto the next one. Some took much longer than others and some I still don't feel I've come to fully grasp yet.

[Wizzlebiz]

34 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

A red 1/8oz Roostertail and 2" crappie tube in Firecracker color on a 1/16oz ball head with a safety pin spinner were what I started out really trying to catch bass with.

 

As I progressed, with each new technique I learned, I became focused on that bait/technique until I felt I'd effectively learned it before moving onto the next one. Some took much longer than others and some I still don't feel I've come to fully grasp yet.

This is how I am going about this as well. I am picking 3. I just began fishing this summer. I will become comfortable with those and then once I fell confident I will learn 3 more. 

[Hook2Jaw]

Red wigglers on the bottom or under a bobber were what I started with for bream and catfish with my grandmother in 1991.  I was four.  My older cousin set me up with a Zebco spinning reel with a 1/4oz bullet, 3/0 straight shank, and the legendary(around here, anyway) Culprit 7.5" Ribbontail in Red Shad.  I was probably 7 when I started using artificial lures for bass, after that he introduced me to the Spinnerbait.

[billmac]

My experience was like Bassman's.  Inline spinners (Shysters and Mepps), Rapalas and live bait in the river behind my house.  Gradually expanded to jig and spinner combos (Meeney Spin).  If we were in pike territory, we were fishing red and white Dardevles.

[BassNJake]

I started with live bait and a slip bobber

(the slip bobber was accidental as I didn't know I was missing the lead insert that went inside the bobber. lol)

 

My dad fished a purple w/firetail mister twister all the time.

Slow and steady - slow and steady ....zzz..zzz.. zzz , not really the style for me

As I got into fishing more seriously, I started using crankbaits.

Since I was a hyper kid most of the time I'd cast it out and burn it back.

I remember him telling me I wasn't going to catch fish reeling that fast ... just as I had a 3 lber about rip the rod out of my hands.

I didn't understand the different bill shapes and sizes so i stumbled into one with a larger bill.

Now when I burned it back it would dig into the bottom.

I then learned that when doing this if it hit something solid, a lot of times I'd get a bite.

 

I then started reading every bassmaster or in-fisherman article on crankbaits I could get.

That knowledge added to my real life experiences with the crankbaits allowed me to become a better skilled crankbait fisherman(IMO) and gave me the building blocks to locating fish.

 

Personality matters too.

My dad now fishes a jig the majority of his trips and I fish a toad.

He's still slow and steady and I'm still hyper

We both still catch fish and I am so grateful he was my guide in those early years and my partner in the later years

[wzzyfzzy]

T-rigged Culprit plastic ribbon tail worm in motor oil color, gremlin bullet weight and a red tru-turn hook. I swear, I fished that one setup for years! Now I can't catch anything on them!

[bigbill]

I was spending about $50 on livebait, mostly minnows. One night I tossed a 12” culprit worm black Shad with a glass rattle in the head. I was reeling it in and caught a 13” chain pickerel. Being alert to what’s going on that fish told me they wanted something moving. I put on a mepps #3 inline spinner and tossed one to my son we caught doubles till it got dark.

i saved my money on livebait and got crankbaits, spinnerbaits, topwater, shallow running baits. I read everything here and bought fishing videos from the pros too. My health put the brakes on me fishing.

 

i been here since the beginning of this site, Glenn and the guys here give good tips listen to what they say and how they work the rod.

 

my tip, don’t get hung up using one brand or flavor of scent. If nothing is happening with one scent my go to scent is garlic if the bass attractant isn’t working.

[BuzzHudson19c]

Rapala original floater was the go to in my childhood. Spoons and inline spinners were big too.

[Dens228]

When I just got back into bass fishing after my semi-retirement I bet that first summer I caught 95% of my bass on either wacky rigged or weightless t-rigged Senko's.  

 

Now I bet 10% are caught t-rigged weightless or with a weight, but that 10% includes Senko's, Rage craws, and Rage bugs. I don't think I've caught any wacky style, and don't think I've even tried it more than once this year. 

[Tony johnson]

when i got serious about bass fishing it was calico bass with my day on 1/2 day boats.... i got really into throwing surface irons and still my favorite way to fish calicos/yellowtail... growing up in san diego we have some of if not the best saltwater sportfishing charter fleet

[RB 77]

Two. Back in the "day" when my pops was teaching me how to Bass fishing with lures it was a plastic worm and a crank bait. One for a slow bottom presentation and one for a mid-top reaction presentation. Mostly T-rigged local handpours and Rapala Shad Raps. Still throw both to this day, but while the T-Rig is my all time number one confidence technique, crankin' is a very bite specific technique for me.

[Eric Hug]

I've been reading threads and never responded to any but here goes, as in all of these responses my first "technique" isn't listed.  What got me into bass fishing was actually catching the bait before fishing.  Live frogs was the main bait my dad and I would use.  You would have to sneak up behind the frog in your waders and grab him up. Every time I caught a leopard frog with bright green color I knew for sure he was going to turn into a good fight of a largemouth.  I caught my own nightcrawlers and trapped minnows too but the live frogs was where it was at, hooked through the lips and let them do the work. Every now and then you'd have to squeeze the air out of them to get them to swimming right again. Anyone else ever do this?

[Wizzlebiz]

5 hours ago, Eric Hug said:

I've been reading threads and never responded to any but here goes, as in all of these responses my first "technique" isn't listed.  What got me into bass fishing was actually catching the bait before fishing.  Live frogs was the main bait my dad and I would use.  You would have to sneak up behind the frog in your waders and grab him up. Every time I caught a leopard frog with bright green color I knew for sure he was going to turn into a good fight of a largemouth.  I caught my own nightcrawlers and trapped minnows too but the live frogs was where it was at, hooked through the lips and let them do the work. Every now and then you'd have to squeeze the air out of them to get them to swimming right again. Anyone else ever do this?

Cant say that I have. Closest to this for me is bloodworms on a hook as a kid. But that was 35 years ago.